When Sidney and I went on our honeymoon in Cancun, the item at the top of my wife’s to-do list was to swim with the dolphins. Sure enough, in the middle of our trip we found ourselves on an island many miles away from the resort swimming with a pod of dolphins. But believe it or not, it was another species of mammals that stole Sidney’s heart…

A photo of me with a dolphin while in Mexico.

The package we bought included more than just a dip with dolphins. After we finished that session, we jumped in some pretty murky waters with manatees. It was shortly before this encounter that I even knew what a manatee was and now I found myself swimming with the animals. To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed with these large, awkward “sea cows” but Sidney sure was. She thought they were super cute and gentle. Their underdog demeanor compared to the diva dolphins won her over.

Sidney’s dream to swim with the dolphins came true but a different animal would win her heart.

Last night, I read a book titled “Saving Manatees” with the kids. Although I characterized them as “sea cows” above, the opening paragraph of the book used different animals to describe a manatee: A manatee is like nothing you’ve ever seen. You may see it as a hodgepodge of animals, but a manatee is a unique creature. Close up, manatees have the whiskers of a walrus, the eyes of a mole, the wrinkles and toenails of an elephant, tail of a beaver, and the gentle nature of a sloth.

We read “Saving Manatees” by Stephen R. Swinburne last night.

After that description, Sloan was hooked!

We learned that manatees spend six to eight hours a day eating as they sometimes consume more than 100 pounds of water plants in a day. It was brought to our attention that Columbus believed manatees to be mermaids. The author explained that manatees can live to 60 but many die before they even turn 10. The reason? Of all manatee deaths in Florida, 30% are caused by watercraft collisions. Manatees grow quickly from starting off as a three-foot, 66-pound baby and ballooning to an eight-foot, 550-pound youngster in just two years.

With Sloan so amazed at these gentle giants of the sea, it was fun to tell her that Sid and I had actually swam with them before. We told her about petting them and feeding them lettuce. We described how they had algae growing on their backs and the funny sounds they made. It was nice to reminisce.

I am still not a huge manatee fun but I appreciated yet another example of a book opening up Sloan’s imagination and allowing me to relate the subject matter to a close-to-home real life example. Don’t Blink.